The 27th JEONJU International Film Festival (JEONJU IFF, Festival Co-Directors MIN Sungwook and JUNG Junho) unveiled the lineup for the Masters section, showcasing filmmakers who have made outstanding cinematic achievements.
This year’s Masters section brings together new works by filmmakers with distinctive cinematic visions. A total of 11 films will be presented at the festival, ranging from new works by visionary auteurs such as TSAI Ming-Liang, José Luis GUERIN and Rita AZEVEDO GOMES to filmmakers newly introduced to the JEONJU IFF.
In a rapidly changing landscape where nearly every film is marketed as a “masterpiece,” this program reconsiders the conditions that define a true auteur through its curatorial approach.
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| ▲ From the left: If I Were Alive, Dao |
Brazil’s André NOVAIS OLIVEIRA presents If I Were Alive, a distinctive and moving love story shaped by his minimalist approach. Senegal's Alain GOMIS returns with Dao, an immersive portrayal of a community and its traditional rituals that transcends conventional genre boundaries. Both films premiered at this year’s Berlin.
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| ▲ From the left: Letters to My Dead Parents, Remake |
Chile's Ignacio AGÜERO Letters to My Dead Parents reflects on personal and national history observed through his own courtyard. Ross MCELWEE’s Remake, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival last year, mourns his late son and reconstructs their shared life through archival footage.
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| ▲ Good Valley Stories |
José Luis GUERIN returns after 11 years with Good Valley Stories, winner of the Special Jury Award at the San Sebastian Film Festival. The film is a spatial portrait of Valbona on the outskirts of Barcelona, reaffirming the enduring strength of his cinematic style and distinctive way of seeing the world.
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| ▲ From the left: Night Journey, Back Home |
Through Night Journey + Back Home, Taiwan's TSAI Ming-Liang summons the spirit of the Walker once more in the Czech Republic. The Director’s Cut of Night Journey will have its World Premiere at JEONJU, while filming for TSAI Ming-liang’s next Walker Series is scheduled to take place in Jeonju.
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| ▲ Shot Reverse Shot |
Following last year’s Opening Film at the 26th JEONJU IFF, Radu JUDE presents Shot Reverse Shot, with Adrian CIOFLANCA. The film juxtaposes an American journalist’s account of visiting communist Romania in the 1980s with the surveillance records of the government.
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| ▲ From the left: The Tree of Knowledge, Mothertongue |
The Tree of Knowledge, Eugène GREEN conjures cinematic magic through the camera frame using minimal means. ZHANG Lu presents Mothertongue at this year’s JEONJU IFF, a continuation of Gloaming in Luomu (2025), which premiered at last year’s Busan International Film Festival.
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| ▲ From the left: Fuck the Polis, The Piano Accident |
Rita AZEVEDO GOMES’s Fuck the Polis, winner of the grand prize at FIDMarseille, presents a poetic and enigmatic journey connecting an individual life with the artistic heritage of literature, music, and cinema. France's Quentin DUPIEUX presents The Piano Accident, a satirical comedy that follows the threats and downfall of a famous influencer.
Sung MOON, the programmer of the JEONJU IFF, expressed anticipation of this year’s selection, “Through their latest works, the filmmakers in this year's Masters section demonstrate, with their singular craft, that cinema remains a vital art form, one that is becoming ever more necessary in an age of complexity and ambiguity.”
The Masters section will be screened at the 27th JEONJU International Film Festival, to be held in Jeonju from April 29 (Wed) to May 8 (Fri), 2026.
The 27th JEONJU IFF Master Selections
※Listed in Korean alphabetical order
| Title |
Director |
Country |
Genre |
| If I Were Alive |
André NOVAIS OLIVEIRA |
Brazil |
Fiction |
| Dao |
Alain GOMIS |
France, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau |
Fiction |
| Letters to My Dead Parents |
Ignacio AGÜERO |
Chile |
Documentary |
| Remake |
Ross MCELWEE |
United States |
Documentary |
| Good Valley Stories |
José Luis GUERIN |
Spain, France |
Documentary |
| Night Journey + Back Home |
TSAI Ming-Liang |
Taiwan, Czech Republic |
Documentary |
| Shot Reverse Shot |
Radu JUDE, Adrian CIOFLANCA |
Romania |
Documentary |
| The Tree of Knowledge |
Eugène GREEN |
Portugal, France |
Fiction |
| Mothertongue |
ZHANG Lu |
China |
Fiction |
| Fuck the Polis |
Rita AZEVEDO GOMES |
Portugal |
Documentary |
| The Piano Accident |
Quentin DUPIEUX |
France |
Fiction |
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